Grain Situation and Outlook; Cattle Market Fundamentals

Farm Outlook, cattle markets, grain markets

Computability of simple games: A complete investigation of the sixty-four possibilities

Classify simple games into sixteen "types" in terms of the four conventional axioms: monotonicity, properness, strongness, and nonweakness. Further classify them into sixty-four classes in terms of finiteness (existence of a finite carrier) and algorithmic computability. For each such class, we either show that it is empty or give an example of a game belonging to it. We observe that if a type contains an infinite game, then it contains both computable ones and noncomputable ones. This strongly suggests that computability is logically, as well as conceptually, unrelated to the conventional axioms.Comment: 25 page

Why do physiotherapists do what they do? A study of Kuwaiti physiotherapists

Background and Purpose - Physiotherapy has an important role in the management of numerous musculoskeletal (MSK) problems. In terms of evidence-based physiotherapy practice, little is known about the reasons for selection of treatment techniques by MSK physiotherapists or whether their treatments are evidence based. This survey aimed to explore the reasons for the choice of treatment techniques by Kuwaiti MSK physiotherapists and to identify the extent of using the evidence base from research findings as a basis for physiotherapy practice. Methods - A self-reported questionnaire accompanied with participant information sheet was distributed to 139 MSK physiotherapists in seven hospitals in Kuwait. The questionnaire was modified from that used in a previous study for use with Kuwaiti MSK physiotherapists to include modalities that were known to be used there by the lead author. It was piloted prior to distribution on three Kuwaiti MSc students for content and face validity. Results - One hundred six of 139 therapists responded, of whom 22% were male and 78% were female. The study showed that undergraduate education was the main influence for all treatment techniques used by Kuwaiti MSK physiotherapists. The use of research findings as a basis for choice of treatment techniques was very limited. The use of research was not related to post-qualification education or years of professional experience. Conclusion - The findings of this study demonstrate that current physiotherapy practice in Kuwait is more reliant on undergraduate education and less on research evidence for the choice of treatment techniques. This has implications for undergraduate physiotherapy curricula, suggesting that evidence-based practice must be keenly espoused

Pleiotropic effects of cancer cells' secreted factors on human stromal (mesenchymal) stem cells

INTRODUCTION: Studying cancer tumors’ microenvironment may reveal a novel role in driving cancer progression and metastasis. The biological interaction between stromal (mesenchymal) stem cells (MSCs) and cancer cells remains incompletely understood. Herein, we investigated the effects of tumor cells’ secreted factors as represented by a panel of human cancer cell lines (breast (MCF7 and MDA-MB-231); prostate (PC-3); lung (NCI-H522); colon (HT-29) and head & neck (FaDu)) on the biological characteristics of MSCs. METHODS: Morphological changes were assessed using fluorescence microscopy. Changes in gene expression were assessed using Agilent microarray and qRT-PCR. GeneSpring 12.1 and DAVID tools were used for bioinformatic and signaling pathway analyses. Cell migration was assessed using a transwell migration system. SB-431542, PF-573228 and PD98059 were used to inhibit transforming growth factor β (TGFβ), focal adhesion kinase (FAK), and mitogen activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK) pathways, respectively. Interleukin-1β (IL1β) was measured using ELISA. RESULTS: MSCs exposed to secreted factors present in conditioned media (CM) from FaDu, MDA-MB-231, PC-3 and NCI-H522, but not from MCF7 and HT-29, developed an elongated, spindle-shaped morphology with bipolar processes. In association with phenotypic changes, genome-wide gene expression and bioinformatics analysis revealed an enhanced pro-inflammatory response of those MSCs. Pharmacological inhibitions of FAK and MAPKK severely impaired the pro-inflammatory response of MSCs to tumor CM (approximately 80% to 99%, and 55% to 88% inhibition, respectively), while inhibition of the TGFβ pathway was found to promote the pro-inflammatory response (approximately 3-fold increase). In addition, bioinformatics and pathway analysis of gene expression data from tumor cell lines combined with experimental validation revealed tumor-derived IL1β as one mediator of the pro-inflammatory phenotype observed in MSCs exposed to tumor CM. MSCs exhibited significant tropism toward secreted factors from the aforementioned tumor cell lines, while both normal and MSCs exposed to tumor CM were capable of attracting human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). CONCLUSIONS: Our data revealed tumor-derived IL1β as one mediator of the pro-inflammatory response in MSCs exposed to tumor CM, which was found to be positively regulated by FAK and MAPK signaling and negatively regulated by TGFβ signaling. Thus, our data support a model where MSCs could promote cancer progression through becoming pro-inflammatory cells within the cancer stroma

Development and formative evaluation of the e-Health implementation toolkit

<b>Background</b> The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) or e-Health is seen as essential for a modern, cost-effective health service. However, there are well documented problems with implementation of e-Health initiatives, despite the existence of a great deal of research into how best to implement e-Health (an example of the gap between research and practice). This paper reports on the development and formative evaluation of an e-Health Implementation Toolkit (e-HIT) which aims to summarise and synthesise new and existing research on implementation of e-Health initiatives, and present it to senior managers in a user-friendly format.<p></p> <b>Results</b> The content of the e-HIT was derived by combining data from a systematic review of reviews of barriers and facilitators to implementation of e-Health initiatives with qualitative data derived from interviews of "implementers", that is people who had been charged with implementing an e-Health initiative. These data were summarised, synthesised and combined with the constructs from the Normalisation Process Model. The software for the toolkit was developed by a commercial company (RocketScience). Formative evaluation was undertaken by obtaining user feedback. There are three components to the toolkit - a section on background and instructions for use aimed at novice users; the toolkit itself; and the report generated by completing the toolkit. It is available to download from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcph/research/ehealth/documents/e-HIT.xls<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b> The e-HIT shows potential as a tool for enhancing future e-Health implementations. Further work is needed to make it fully web-enabled, and to determine its predictive potential for future implementations

A long-lasting controversy : Western democracy promotion in Jordan

Since the end of the cold war and, in particular, the Al Qaeda attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, Western governments have in their rhetoric stressed democratization in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as a key policy goal. 1 The EU, the US and other Western countries have developed and extended their democracy promotion activities in the region, in particular democracy assistance to civil society, independent media, the judiciary, parliament and political parties. 2 Such assistance has at times been complemented with public criticism of perceived non-democratic behaviour and political conditionalities, i.e. making democratic reform a precondition for granting favours such as trade deals and development assistance.peer-reviewe

Antiretroviral therapy, CD4, viral load, and disease stage in HIV patients in Saudi Arabia: a 2001–2013 cross-sectional study

Introduction: The incidence of HIV/AIDS is increasing worldwide and in the Middle East. In this study, we analyzed the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART), the patterns of CD4 and viral load (VL), and stage of presentation. Methodology: Laboratory variables, ART use, and CD4 count were obtained and analyzed retrospectively. Results: A total of 997 cases from eight HIV/AIDS care providers were included. Of the total cases, 274 (28.3%) had a CD4 count of 5 log10. Of the total cases, 50% were on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and the majority of cases were asymptomatic (70%). Of those patients on ART, 247 (39.5%) took tenofovir/emtricitabine combined with either efavirenz (147; 14.7%) or lopinavir/ritonavir (100; 10%), and 158 (15.8%) were on lamivudine and zidovudine with either efavirenz (32; 3.2%) or lopinavir/ritonavir (126; 12.6%). Other combinations were used in 70 (7%) patients. The mean (± standard deviation) of baseline CD4 and viral load were 401 cells/mm3 (322 cells/mm3) and 4.6 log1010 (1.3 log10), respectively. At diagnosis, 72% of patients were asymptomatic; 50% had AIDS and 20% had CD4 count < 350. Conclusions: ART use was in line with international guidelines, but the number of patients receiving ART was lower than expected. Large proportions of cases presented late with AIDS at diagnosis or had CD4 < 350. Further data is needed to evaluate the medical care of patients with HIV/AIDS in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Improving efficiency in meat production

Selective breeding and improved nutritional management over the past 20–30 years has resulted in dramatic improvements in growth efficiency for pigs and poultry, particularly lean tissue growth. However, this has been achieved using high-quality feed ingredients, such as wheat and soya that are also used for human consumption and more recently biofuels production. Ruminants on the other hand are less efficient, but are normally fed poorer quality ingredients that cannot be digested by human subjects, such as grass or silage. The challenges therefore are to: (i) maintain the current efficiency of growth of pigs and poultry, but using more ingredients not needed to feed the increasing human population or for the production of biofuels; (ii) improve the efficiency of growth in ruminants; (iii) at the same time produce animal products (meat, milk and eggs) of equal or improved quality. This review will describe the use of: (a) enzyme additives for animal feeds, to improve feed digestibility;(b) known growth promoting agents, such as growth hormone, β-agonists and anabolic steroids, currently banned in the European Union but used in other parts of the world; (c) recent transcriptomic studies into molecular mechanisms for improved growth efficiency via low residual feed intake. In doing so, the use of genetic manipulation in animals will also be discussed